Two County Food Inspectors Charged with Falsifying Records, Theft in Office
"We take violations of the public trust very seriously.” - Prosecutor Jim Flaiz
Two former longtime county food inspectors have been accused of violating the public trust.
Anthony Zoccali, 45, of Cortland, and Mark Janezic, 42, of Concord Township, were indicted Wednesday on charges of tampering with government records and theft in office, felonies of the third and fourth degrees, respectively.
The charges followed a nearly three-month investigation conducted by the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office into the state registered sanitarians’ day-to-day activities.
“I commend the health department for bringing their suspicions to us right away so that our office could investigate this matter,” Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said. “We take violations of the public trust very seriously.”
According to several sources not authorized to speak publicly, investigators found Zoccali and Janezic routinely falsified daily inspection reports, claiming to have completed more inspections than they actually did and to have spent more time inspecting retail food establishments than they actually spent.
Instead, they regularly were observed shopping — both in and outside of Geauga County — or sitting in their cars in parking lots and parks during work hours.
After both men were confronted with the results of the investigation last month, they quit their jobs. At the time, Zoccali was being paid $24.49 per hour and Janezic $25.40 per hour, according to the county auditor’s office.
Last fall, Geauga County Health District Director Bob Weisdack said he became suspicious of Zoccali and Janezic’s activities.
Both men were employed in the district’s Food Safety Division and were primarily responsible for performing all food service inspections in the county. Zoccali, hired in 2002, was responsible for inspecting the southern half of the county and Janezic, hired in 2001, the northern half, Weisdack said.
“When inspections are being done and you’re looking at the type of inspections, there were some questions in regards by some of the other sanitarians as to the different types of locations that were being inspected,” said Weisdack, adding there were also questions about whether all of the inspections were being done.
Weisdack explained inspectors are required to complete daily time sheets.
“These jobs are all of public trust, so that means when you tell me you have done an inspection, then we expect that the county’s health is being monitored, so if you eat at a restaurant, we want that restaurant to be acceptable or we don’t want it to be open,” he said.
He added, “I tell my staff if you wouldn’t let your mother or your brother, or your wife or any of your relatives eat at that facility, why would you allow that restaurant to be open?”
According to the 2015 annual report, the health district is responsible for inspecting more than 575 food service operations and retail food establishments in the county, in addition to mobile or temporary operations that sell food at festivals or other public events.
Inspection frequency is based upon state law and is determined by a facility’s risk classification. Food establishment locations that generally sell all closed, pre-packaged items are inspected annually, explained Weisdack, while food service locations — which range from small businesses with limited menus to full-service restaurants — are inspected more frequently.
Inspections generally can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes for food establishment locations to 60-75 minutes for low-item food service restaurants, to 120-180 minutes for larger full-service restaurants, he said.
Areas addressed during an inspection include staff hygiene, food handling, physical facilities and general sanitation practices.
As a result of his suspicion, Weisdack said he had GPS units placed on Zoccali and Janezic’s county work vehicle.
He later met with prosecutor’s office investigators who began to track each inspector’s movements, including surveillance.
Over the course of the investigation, Zoccali claimed on his daily reports to have completed dozens of more inspections than he actually performed, sources said.
He also claimed to have spent countless hours more at inspection sites than he actual spent.
In addition, he was paid for dozens of hours of work that he actually wasted sitting in his car, often times reading the newspaper.
A similar pattern was found for Janezic, although he wasted more time than Zoccali, sources said. In addition to sitting in parking lots, he was found shopping at retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart as well as Beachwood Place.
Weisdack said he and his staff are busy verifying past inspection reports and re-examining many of the facilities to ensure they were scrutinized properly.
“What we’re finding is the inspections that were supposed to be done within the state code were being done adequately,” he said. “However, what was on the time sheets did not reflect what was actually being done.”
Of the re-inspections that have been done, Weisdack said no major violations have been found.
“We want to make sure that any food that is served in Geauga County is worthy of being eaten,” he added.
As for Zoccali and Janezic, Weisdack said he is extremely disappointed with them.
“I put full faith and I want everybody to have faith in our inspectors,” he said. “I am more than extremely disappointed in the fact that, when I sit around the table at a staff meeting, I want people in this community to know that they have people of integrity that are looking out for their best safety and their health. So, trying to sit here and put it in words is extremely difficult to me.”
